LA Clippers Dallas Mavericks Game 2 Preview
Can the LA Clippers take a 2-0 series lead, or will the Dallas Mavericks even things up in Game 2?
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00:00The LA Clippers kicked off their first-round series of Dallas Mavericks with a win on Monday
00:04night, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 118-110 victory.
00:08It was a very closely tested battle, one that likened the Clippers fans uncomfortable at
00:12times.
00:13After going up 18-2 in the early minutes of the game, the Mavericks stormed back and heard
00:16a 16-point deficit into a 14-point lead in the second quarter.
00:20LA's second-half defense is ultimately what won the game as the Clippers managed to hold
00:24Dallas at just 41 points over the final 24 minutes after allowing 38 in the first quarter
00:29alone.
00:30LA has a 1-0 lead in the series because of it, but it was an ugly and unsatisfying win.
00:36Now the Clippers have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 series lead, but it will take a much more
00:40disciplined effort on the defensive end of the floor to get the job done.
00:44Injury report for tonight's game.
00:45On Tuesday, the Clippers released a clean injury report for the first time in months.
00:48Unfortunately, it didn't last long.
00:50Patrick Beverley has since been added to the team's report due to a calf injury, the same
00:54that cut him out of a handful of team's seeding games.
00:57It's not a serious or severe injury by any means, but Dr. Rivers has previously said
01:01the team plans to be cautious with him moving forward, so Beverley is officially listed
01:04as questionable ahead of Game 2, which is the same designation he had before Game 1,
01:09so I would say odds are he plays, but we won't know until we get closer to it.
01:13For Dallas, Kristaps Porzingis and Trey Burke are both considered probable to participate
01:17in Game 2.
01:18Some key storylines for tonight's game.
01:20For LA, it's Montrezl Harrell's progression with the second unit.
01:23He made his bubble debut on Monday, turning to NBA action for the first time since March
01:2810th.
01:29He logged six points and two rebounds in just under 15 minutes of action, and looked expectedly
01:36winded at times.
01:38His minute cap may not be raised significantly in Game 2, but there's a good chance he gets
01:42five or so minutes more than he did on Monday, which is big news for LA's bench.
01:46The 26-year-old was recently named a finalist for this year's Sixth Man of the Year award,
01:51and deservedly so.
01:52On this season, he's averaging 18.6 points per game and leading the NBA's top-scoring
01:56second unit, which scored over 51 points per game this year.
02:00LA's bench produced half of that average on Monday, as Harrell, Lou Williams, and Jebekel
02:06Green went for just 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
02:10Reggie Jackson and Landry Shamit, who also came off the bench in Game 1, were 0-of-6
02:14from the floor.
02:16If Harrell starts to look even a bit more like himself on Wednesday, which, again, it's
02:19not his fault that he hasn't yet, the Clippers should feel very confident in the second unit
02:23moving forward through these playoffs.
02:25For Dallas, the main storyline is Kristaps Porzingis and technical fouls.
02:29Mavericks phenom Luka Doncic went off for 42 points in Game 1, which is the most points
02:34scored by a player to playoff debut in league history.
02:37However, that feat was unfortunately overshadowed by the ejection of Kristaps Porzingis.
02:42The 7-footer was tossed early in the second half of Monday's contest after escalating
02:46an incident between Doncic and Marcus Morris, picking up his second technical foul of the
02:51day in the process.
02:52Many viewed the ejection as weak, including LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, and assuming
02:56Porzingis plays in Game 2, he'll be as motivated as ever to carry his team to victory.
03:01For prediction for tonight's game, I think if the Clippers give a more disciplined defensive
03:04effort, it'll be very hard for the Mavericks to come out on top in Game 2.
03:08Otherwise, LA can end up in a shootout with what is the league's most potent offense,
03:13and that's a place that no team wants to be in right now.
03:16That said, given LA's dominance in this series throughout this season and this playoff series
03:20so far, and the fact that when held, these Clippers are 11-1 on the year with a full
03:26roster available, it doesn't feel like Kawhi Leonard and the rest of the team are going
03:29to slip up in this one.
03:30I've got the Clippers taking Game 2 by a final of 119-105.
03:35You can watch Game 2 between the Clippers and Mavericks tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
03:40The game will air on TNT and Fox Sports Prime Ticket.